Well, at least the Billboard reggae charts no longer belongs to Jamaicans, according to this news report. While I can't vouch for the musical credentials of any of those bands, it's an interesting development.

Hi Mick,Interesting stuff & it's something that has been mentioned a few times on this board.

There is many aspects that come into play, 90% of the reggae that i used to listen to came from JA .That was many years ago, that little island had the best musicians, producers, singers, the whole spiritual force of the music was there, even the herb was good !

Times change & people move on, the internet helped to change a lot of that, no more secrets now everything is out in the open.Back then there probably was a lot of good sounds from elsewhere, it's just that the radio stations never played it .

Some kids don't want to play the music of their fathers. So many factors do come into play, back in Marley's time, ghetto kids could look up & aspire to play in a band & tour the world & spread the message of Rastafari, not many people interested in those teachings now.

Sure i would never count JA out of things in the future, because no one knows what the next generation will bring.The thing is though, it's a world thing now, I don't really need JA for my daily dose of fresh reggae, i get it elsewhere.

I don't really miss the old days, it's better to be in the present & prepare for the future. At present listening to a good group from Italy. Back in the day that would not be possible !

In Marley's times, most kids didn't play in bands, and most wanted to be local stars, first and foremost, i reckon. This is how most of the great reggae artists started. Some finally ended up get some int'l recognition.Funnily enough, that report is about a situation which probably is about to change in the coming months, when the US/Japanese/ European festivals will book the new wave of JA reggae bands (yes, real bands, like in "rock" or "funk" bands). There is virtually no money to be made in the reggae charts, whereas there could still be some to be made with touring. Not that i enjoy all their sounds but i believe bands like Raging Fyah, Pentateuch, Rootz Underground, Dubtronice Crew and the likes will give the "more mainstream" foreign reggae fans what they want : roots reggae bands, but with jamaican members coming from better-off backgrounds. This probably is the next turn to watch for. Whatever people think about their music, seems like the tables are going to turn again, in an unexpected way which should be interesting to observe.

I just think that the last two years we see a rise in a new generation, who wants to bring roots music again and a Rastafari message. Roots is coming up again in JA and thats a good thing. Ofcourse it's no longer strictly JA but it's nice to see that there are new artists standing up continuing the tradition